0 comments/ 13669 views/ 2 favorites Viking Carnival By: martincain SOL-4/ Mars Jena followed Kinkaid through the Holdfast at his side. Other occupants got out of their way. The corridor linking the control room with the cafeteria was lined with windows facing the rusty Elysium Plains expanding to the horizon in every direction. “Even with this system-wide crisis our friends at TIL are utterly deaf when it comes to questions about their interactions with the Xenos, and they’re mute about anything they’ve learned,” Kinkaid groused as he shuffled along slowly with his hands clasped behind his back. “I’ve been pressing the TerraCom assembly to act but they’re so busy writing and writing our new Terran Charter that nobody wants to notice. The situation is inexcusable.” “The solution is very simple, sir. We have to get some of our own people inside,” Jena said. “If TIL won’t consider the complications that this lack of intelligence sharing creates, we don’t have very many options.” “I agree,” Kinkaid said but then heaved a disgusted sigh. “The problem is access. SOLCorp would no sooner let one of us into their Triton fueling station as we would one of them here at the Holdfast. At first we could monitor their transmissions to and from Earth but all parties involved are using couriers now.” “So we use Home Fleet to put a cordon around Triton and we demand access. I’m sure someone in the TerraCom assembly can find time to put their signature on a command request.” “Then the Outworld Alliance would object,” Kinkaid retorted. “Neptune and its moons were ceded to their control after Martian independence. Despite our presence here, any heavy-handedness now would only make things worse, and these corporations! If we anger them, they suddenly stop work on things we need, or manufacture them improperly. I’m not willing to risk a single ship when it comes to the people manufacturing our transit drives.” “And refining our starship fuel,” Jena said as they rounded a curve and saw a cargo robot approaching with a load carried in its arms. It followed the wall so they altered course to move around it. “I’m surprised that SOLCorp has been as tolerant as we have. After all, it is their station.” “Which tells me that TIL is sharing what they know, just not with us,” Kinkaid said and muttered. “Inexcusable. They have what we need and, just this once, they’re not selling it to us. Damn them and their two-faced shenanigans.” They stopped when they came to the lift. Jena pressed the down arrow and said, “Then one of two things is happening, admiral, either what they have is so good they’re trying to find the right way to market it, or things are so bad they have to keep it under wraps.” “If things are good, we’ve nothing to worry about,” Kinkaid said and stepped into the lift when it arrived and the doors opened. Except for her, the admiral had the lift to himself. “That is not our business, commander.” “Yes, sir,” Jena said. “If the latter is true then why haven’t they attacked yet? We know they’re here. They know we’re here.” “You’ve seen the analysis of their ships. Between Home Fleet and the ground defenses we’ve build into Earth and the colonies, they’d never get close to any of our worlds, not with their fleet. In the worse case scenario, they’re just stalling us for time until more of them arrive.” “I’ll have my report on what reserves we can draw on your desk before the end of the shift,” Jena said. “I spent weeks crawling around the old hulls in our depots. I’d say one in three can be cleaned up and made serviceable again, that’s an extra twenty ships for Home Fleet at most, thirty if we can find crews willing to deploy with a marginal reactor. That’s a whole different complication. These ships have been in storage for seventy years. Who still knows how to run them? Someone in a museum, I suppose, or a retirement enclave.” “That’s why we keep training archives, commander,” Kinkaid said as the lift doors parted and they stepped out onto the mess-deck. “That’s assuming that the TerraCom assembly will vote us the credits to have them refitted,” He shook his head with disgust. “Did your trip to the Free Callisto shipyard yield results?” “Their work crews have been decimated by Serenity toxification,” Jena said. “At best we can expect Bellapheron to be finished anytime soon. I threatened them with removing our unfinished projects to the United Space Alliance works but they’re having the same troubles.” Kinkaid shook his head. “Why did they decide to wake me up this year?” Jena smiled. “I’m beginning to think I should’ve gone into business law.” “And miss all the fun?” Kinkaid said wryly and altered their course toward the serving line. “I’d just like to know how they got here.” “Either they’ve been traveling for a very long time or they have a system like ours,” Jena said and reached for a try. She pointed at a pan full of something labeled, “vegetable lasagna,” and a plateful of it was immediately delivered by a line cook. “If they’ve been taking the slow route we would’ve seen them coming. My vote is that have a tunneling drive or something similar.” “Then why didn’t we detect any jump flares when they arrived?” Kinkaid said and lifted a bowl of orange gelatin to his tray. “A fleet that size would’ve made quite a scene. All the logs we reviewed reveal nothing but merchant traffic previously accounted for.” “Maybe we weren’t looking with the right sensors,” Jena said and picked a Martian fruit/puffed rice bar from the dessert table. “Of course, having our sensor nets taken down by solar-storms couldn’t have happened at a worse possible moment. It was like being blind in one eye.” “Thank goodness the damage wasn’t permanent,” Kinkaid agreed as he carried his tray to the dispensary past the serving line. “Tracking the shipping in this system is difficult enough when the sensors are operating. It’s worse after two Mega class storms.” “What on Earth did we do to piss off the Sun God?” Jena wondered and took a plastic cup from a dispenser full of them. She filled it with water and said, “If there is one. Not that I’m saying there is.” “Quite all right, commander,” Kinkaid said and filled his cup with the same. The other option was coffee. Ares Prime Lager was only available off-duty. “Sometimes I ask myself that same question. The only true answer that ever comes to me is I-don’t-know.” “I’ve always thought that it was a good enough place to start.” “Your mother taught you that, didn’t she?” “Yes,” Jena admitted. “How did you know?” Kinkaid smiled. “Who do you think told that one to your father?” “Victor Borges?” Jena guessed. She laughed as Kinkaid muttered to himself and moved for the nearest table. *** 61 Virginis The silence that greeted USS Ranger’s arrival set of instant alarms throughout the ship. Pax settlement was off the air. Pax orbital garrison was still transmitting, infrequently, and in a code Ranger had no cipher to. No merchantmen were sounding off. A system well known for its vibrancy was as empty as the first day it was discovered. Ranger and her group rigged for silent running and had not gone down for 76 hours straight. “Maybe you can tell me what the hell is going on here, amigo.” A quiet voice came through Hurricane’s helmet speaker. He took his eyes off the passive sensor display and pressed his helmet to the canopy so he could look rearward. There was another F/A-28 off his starboard side. “I haven’t heard anything you haven’t heard,” Hurricane said. He could see Pancho in his cockpit, who waved back at him. “Ask Captain Groove if you want to know anything else. The S-3 gave them a brief before everyone was out of the freezers.” “The got us out here with anti-shipping packages for a reason, Hog. I think so serious smleck is going out here that they aren’t telling us about. I think they got us out here as bait. Just so something might come after us, so they find out what it is. Were you up for the S-3 brief?” Both fighters were configured with a long accelerator tube that jutted out from SCRAM intake in a line following the body of the fighter out to 3 meters past the nose. “Negit. I came out of the icebox forty-eight hours ago,” Hurricane said. “I’ve barely had time to piss as it is. The good news is that my first ration pack was Enchiladas with Rice.” “I never get that. I was waiting in the chow line after I came out of the box and what do I get? Egg omlet. How the fek am I supposed to choke down Egg omlet. Man, that smleck glows under black light.” “You make friends with the one masochist around who likes it and trade as often as you can,” Hurricane said and Pancho laughed. “It could’ve been worse. You could’ve gotten smleck.” “Prepared properly it’s good stuff.” Pancho came back. “For about thirty seconds.” Pancho chuckled. “That’s why you have to eat it quick.” The sensor display lit up with new contacts, a cluster of objects, ID’s by the computer as Nickel-Iron. When Hurricane looked out of the canopy, the holo-HUD pinpointed them in space with red arrows hanging in his vision. “The pre-flight brief didn’t mention how crowded this system is. Watch yourself. I’m picking up some asteroids around.” “Confirm that,” Pancho said. “The main belt is a way back. I wonder how these ones escaped?” “A comet is my guess,” Hurricane said. “It must’ve taken a big one with some gravity of it’s own to drag them out of position like that.” “I think I’ve got freezer lag,” Pancho said and Hurricane could hear him shifting in the cockpit of his fighter. “I’m so stiff and sore. Next time I’m going to find a better position to sleep in.” “How’d the big nap treat you?” “I had a picture of Pax settlement pasted onto my icebox cover,” Pancho replied. “I had nothing but pretty Pax girls keeping me company for almost the whole transit. It was ten times better then what I got from Sol to Lalande.” “Don’t remind me, amigo,” Hurricane said and dropped his eyes to the picture of Jena. “I hope you find her when we get there.” “If we get there.” Pancho added. Someone transmitting on the Guard channel overrode their intercom banter. The signal was weak but discernable. “RN Achilles to any monitoring station. Sos. Our engines are out. We are adrift and under attack. Any monitoring stations please reply. Sos. This is Achilles.” “Did you get that, Hog?” “I got it,” Hurricane said. The HUD bracketed the section of space where the signal had come from in yellow. He found the fuel level display. “I think we can reach it. It’s gonna take us a while though.” “Trailboss, this is Rodeo two,” Quickdraw called in. He and Wild Bill worked a similar box of space 200,000 kilometers away. “We’re picking up a mayday. Request permission to haul ass over there.” “Affirm that, Rodeo two. We’ll meet you there,” Hurricane said and reactivated the wireless link between the two fighters in his flight. “You’re free to maneuver, amigo. In thrust we trust.” “Let’s go get our dicks in it.” Pancho trawled as he accelerated past. “Don’t let ‘em get cut off.” Hurricane said to himself and pushed the engine throttle control forward. Gravity arrived. *** SOL-4/ Mars Tali wouldn’t take negit for an answer. Every day there was a new message in Jena’s v-mail about the upcoming Founder’s Day. Despite her attempts to maintain distance, Jena took a silent accounting of her friends on-planet and found a short list. Her friend Tali was near the top and communicated once a day. The message was usually the same. A face with pretty eyes and short cropped, dark hair framing her puckish grin. Jena closed the door to her Holdfast hab-unit and squeezed past the shower module into the unit itself. “Play V-mail.” “Hi, Jena. It’s Tali. You said to remind you about Viking Carnival on fifth-day, so I am, again. If you can’t get off let me know. Gabrielle says hello. She might meet us there. Call me back. Bye.” Jena sat on her bed-slab and pulled off her padded boots. Next off was the service jacket, then her garrison trousers. Fleet issued “female utilities,” were kept folded to regulation standards inside garment lockers, non-regulation articles were worn instead. Her collection was filled with dainties and she fell back onto the bed-slab in a pair, simple, thin cotton patterned with daisies that rode low on her hips. “Call Tali.” She said into the air. The multi-purpose video board on the wall came on and filled with a string of digits. “Hello?” Tali said and put the call through clad only in a short, green robe that flapped open as she settled into the viewer. “Jena? Hi. I wasn’t expecting you to call so early.” “It’s late, I’m sorry,” Jena said. Tali smiled and rubbed both hands through her spiky hair. “I guess I should’ve thought for a minute about what time it is there.” “It’s alright. What’s up?” “I got your messages about the exhibition. I’m taking a few vacation days in a row. This fifth-day is one of them. The Holdfast is shutting down for the first week of the festival so I thought ‘why not?’ I’m just going to throw so things into a bag once my shift ends and catch the air ferry. What do I need to bring?” “Just your moon boots and some pay-cards.” “Tali, what are you getting me into? What kind of exhibition has a name like Viking Carnival?” Jena said and took down her hair. “I asked some people about it. One guy described it as a ‘breathtaking experience. What’s that supposed to mean?” “The settlement puts the Viking one lander on display and it just sort of becomes the focal point of the party. I won’t lie to you, Jena, it’s not a cocktail party,” Tali hesitated to reconsider. “Maybe in some ways it is. Think of it this way, it’s a celebration of life. That’s the best way I can describe it.” “How much was my pass?” Jena said. Tali squinted at something out of sight and reached out of frame for it. She reappeared with a pink ticket in hand and pressed it against the viewer. A caricature of Norse Goddess Freya beckoned in ink above the silver-embossed name of the event. “You can make it up to me if you want to,” Tali said and took the ticket away, replacing it into storage. “You’re our guest.” A hand with long fingers appeared from behind Tali and waved at the vid-com, then dragged themselves down Tali’s neck and back. Tali twitched at a ticklish spot and switched vid-com off. *** 61 Virginis “Keep sending that SOS until we get a reply,” The Captain-1st of RN Achilles had 20 years in service and knew when he was in trouble, big trouble. Achilles still had weapons, which had been effectively keeping the closing zapper rocks at a distance, but without engines it was only time before more zappers arrived for an attack en masse. “Sensor, conn. Is there any sign of the ship that ejected the damned jump flare we’re out here looking for?” “Nothing yet, sir. We’re scanning a maximum range. All we’re picking up are zapper clusters. They either destroyed what was out there or it went into hiding.” “To hell with them for sending us on this wild goose hunt.” Captain 1st said. The Pax orbital garrison was a protective shelter that he longed to steer his ship for. “Conn, sensor. I read eight more zappers moving toward us from the cluster.” “Send the bearing to fire control,” Captain-1st said quickly. “I think their reinforcements just showed up.” “Conn, weapons control. I have new target solutions.” “Accept new solutions. Weapons free.” Said Captain-1st and climbed into his battle chair. The holo-dome he lowered over his face let him follow the shots from his weapons in. My hepacs were taking too long to recycle, too long, he thought and swallowed his panic. “Divert all power to weapons recycle.” “Turrets are over the rail. Commencing main battery fire.” “Give me time.” Captain-1st said. “Eighty seconds to until main batteries are ready to fire.” The full barrage from Achilles knocked the lead zapper out of formation but they continued to close. The Captain-1st watched the power meter on the hepacs climb and thought, too long, too long. *** Even from 100,000 kilometers, the disabled cruiser was localized by the flash of the cruisers turret-mounted guns unloading. Pips of angry red battered targets that Thunderbird’s computers ID’d as asteroids. Were they on a collision course? Hurricane wondered. “Rodeo four to Trailboss. We’re getting a good look at the ship. The engine compartment has a big hole is the side where something burned through. It doesn’t look like any laser damage I’ve ever seen, over.” Trailboss to Rodeo four. Give us ten minutes to get into position and then commence attacking whatever it is that Achilles is targeting. Take as many runs as you can. Get back to the ship when you’re bingo fuel.” Roger, Trailboss. Wild Bill and me will wait for your signal to start the fireworks, out.” “Heat it up, Pancho. Set HUD for ship-to-ship and transfer reactor power to your accelerator,” Hurricane said. “It’ll take four minutes to charge. Remember that for later.” “Power transferred, accelerator charging,” Pancho radioed back. “I don’t like the looks of this Cisco. I see way too many asteroids doing things asteroids don’t do.” “Just follow my lead, amigo,” Hurricane said and visually swept the target area. Achilles was hammering away at the closest object moving toward it. “We’re gonna hit the cluster inbound to the ship. We’ll reassess the situation after the first pass.” “I’m telling you, Pancho. This ain’t right.” “Stand by for course-correction burn,” Hurricane said and entered a vector into his navigation system, a heading for the flank of the asteroid cluster and a 12 second engine burn. “Get wired tight, amigo. Don’t worry about right or wrong now. It’s time to go open up a can.” “I’m with you, Cisco.” *** Captain 1st of Achilles considered his options. He wouldn’t order the ship abandoned until the zappers started burning it through or he received a reply to his SOS. The air in the life-pods would not last long. The ship’s executive officer handed him a printout listing all his damaged systems. Achilles would need an overhaul if they survived this. “Conn, sensor. I’m picking up new signals, sir. We’ve got little friends around.” “Explain yourself.” Captain 1st demanded. “Fighters, sir. Ours,” The sensor-tech said when the Captain 1st moved to look over his shoulder. “I don’t know where they came from but I show four fighters attacking the nearest zapper cluster.” “We don’t have any fighter carriers in this system,” Captain 1st said as confusion started a slow perfusion through his mental process. “Commo, conn. Try to make contact with those fighters out there.” “Conn, commo. Aye-aye, connecting now. We have a link on the Guard channel.” “This is RN Achilles. Friendly forces please identify yourself.” After several tense moments a reply came back. “Achilles, this is Trailboss. We thought you could use some help with your situation. VF-two-two-one at your service, over.” “Achilles to Trailboss. What ship are you from, over?” The reply was broken by static as a zapper plasma weapon fired. “USS Ranger, over.” “Conn, fire control. Hepacs have recycled.” “Fire control, conn. Lock on nearest target and open fire.” “Fire control, aye.” “Achilles to Trailboss. Are you with Second Fleet, over?” “Affirmative, Achilles,” Came the reply. “Second Fleet.” The bridge crew erupted into cheers that overwhelmed the addition of “On detached duty” to the pilot’s statement. His XO embraced him and pounded his back. “We’re very, very glad to see you, Trailboss,” Captain 1st of RN Achilles sent out. Relief flooded his system making his knees wobble. “We’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.” *** “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Pancho said as they overflew the crippled cruiser. As they passed, the Achilles opened up on the drifting asteroid cluster again, asteroids that emitted powerful streams of plasma that reached out to scorch the side of the NorCom warship. Viking Carnival “That’s too much to worry about now, amigo,” Hurricane said. He thought he’d heard cheering before the commo-link was severed. “Let’s find a new angle to hit those things from. Stay close and keep your maneuvering short. Keep an eye on your fuel.” “Heads-up, Cisco. A couple of those things are turning. I think they’re trying to follow us,” Pancho radioed. “They’re firing! Break!” The reentry tiles covering Thunderbird’s upper surface saved his life. When the plasma stream arrived, sensors embedded into the fighter skin registered a massive thermal spike and the auto-recovery system kicked in. As his canopy began to fill with blinding light, Hurricane was thrown against his restraint harness as the RCS fired, pushing the fighter out of the beam. Just the touch was enough to melt his canopy, but not all the way through. His damage-control board lit up with a ½ dozen systems made nonfunctional. Hurricane pressed his pressure helmet to the scorched canopy and looked to the rear. Expecting to see Pancho, all that remained of his F/A-28 was a cloud of hot particles expanding outward, his friend was gone. *** His fighter held together despite critical damage to several major flight systems. The most severe problem was the RCS system, which restricted his ability to maneuver, but it had gotten him far enough. USS Ranger was finally in sight through the forward canopy, a sunlit blob growing larger as he coasted toward it. “Trailboss to Rico Deuce. I have you on visual. I took some hits and could really use a guide-in,” He used the control that he had to rotated the fighter and oriented his engine toward the carrier. “Talk to me here.” “Trailboss, this is Rico Deuce,” The voice of the carrier flight controller whispered through his helmet speaker. “We have you on our sensors. You’re clear to ditch your spacecraft. SAR is standing by for pickup, over.” “Roger that, Rico Deuce, ejecting.” Hurricane said and pulled on the manual canopy release, but the canopy remained fixed in place. He could not see the plexi-glass that had melted down over the hull and formed a bond. Another blinking red light appeared on his damage-control monitor. “This is Trailboss, I have negative canopy separation, over.” “Do you wish to declare an emergency?” Replied the controller. “Affirmative, Rico Deuce,” Hurricane said. “Break out the barrier, over.” “The upper bay is being prepped for you. Emergency teams are standing by. Do not deviate from your glide path, over.” The aiming point at the top of the rearward looking video would match up with a similar point on Ranger’s landing bay. When they matched he was lined up correctly. “Decrease speed to three hundred meters per second, over.” Hurricane increased engine power and watched his speed falling away. His fuel levels dropped into the red zone. His eyes shifted between the velocity indicator and the fuel gauge. When he dropped the landing gear another warning light started flashing from the damage control board. The landing gear door on his scorched side had been fused to the hull. “Trailboss to Rico Deuce, I have negative landing gear deployment over.” “Be calm, Trailboss, we’ll bring you in with your gear up. You’re drifting, adjust your course,” Ranger called. Hurricane checked the rearward video and noticed that he was above and left of a nominal approach. He added some down/right bursts from the functional RCS to bring himself back into line. “Decrease speed, over.” Hurricane rammed the engine power control to the stops. The RUSH burned for ten seconds before his fuel ran out. “Rico Deuce, this is Trailboss, that’s everything I had, over.” He checked his velocity: 400 meters per second. The rearward video flared as Ranger’s engines came to life. The ship, now filling the display, was attempting to match his speed. “Your glide path is good,” Flight control said. “Rendezvous in twenty seconds. Get ready for a hard landing, over.” Hurricane began counting down the time and slumped against his restraints as he forced himself to relax. Something fluttered in front of his face, obscuring his view of the ship. Jena’s picture. “Smleck,” He swore and twisted the cuff-lock sealing his glove to his spacesuit. With the naked hand he grasped the picture and stuffed it into a cargo pocket. “Wherever I go, you go, beautiful.” “Rendezvous in ten seconds.” Despite the Ranger’s increase in speed, Thunderbird hit the landing bay traveling at 350 meters per second. The engine hit first, throwing him back against his ejection seat, breaking off the forward fuselage at the SCRAM intake. Then the pieces started tumbling. *** SOL-4/ Mars On fifth-day after her late but welcome arrival at Tali’s hab, Jena showered, shaved, and changed into the outfit she brought from the Holdfast, Tali shrieked in mock horror when she saw it and began an immediate deconstruction process that left Jena sitting on her bed in only panties and moon-boots. “I am not going out like this.” Jena said as Tali rummaged through a storage box filled with cosmetic tubes. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you are. We both are. Ah, here it is!” She removed a small plastic jar and twisted off the cap, removing a dollop of something lotion-like. Tali lifted her hands to Jena’s face and rubbed the cream in. Her hands stroked Jena’s forehead, cheeks, and ears before beginning down her neck. Jena stopped further progress by taking Tali’s hands in her own. “I think I can get it from here, thanks,” Jena said and took the cosmetic jar from where Tali had set it. It was a clear, scented body lotion impregnated with silver glitter She curled her fingers into a scoop and dipped them inside. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” “Yes. Just holler if you need anything.” Tali said and turned on her heel, disappearing into the small attached shower-room. Jena smeared glitter-goo over her backside. After she rubbed it in, she adjusted the fit of her black tushy-floss and admired herself in the mirror. “I look damned good,” Jena said and lotioned her legs, then arms, then chest. Tali emerged from the shower-room clad identically. “Do you think I should add some more eye makeup for this? Don’t I look good?” “We’re going for the classic look tonight. You’ve got enough on.” “Do my back?” Jena said and offered the jar to Tali, who seemed obliged to apply it as a vigorous rubdown that left Jena aroused. She walked out of Tali’s grip and took the jar. Tali fluffed her hair in the mirror as Jena applied the same treatment without the semi-sensual massage. Satisfied, Tali capped the lotion jar and took a reinforcing breath, reaching up to correct the few small flaws she found with Jena’s look. “Are you ready to start celebrating life?” “I have no idea how this night is going to end.” Jena said. “But I think I’m ready to start living again. If you ditch me, though, I will be so pissed at you.” “Not gonna happen,” Tali said and coded her door. Her last accouterment was a thick strap of black leather she snapped around her own neck. “Don’t be surprised if someone just comes up and grabs you. If that happens just go with the flow.” “Go with the flow.” Heads turned when they stepped out into the main corridor of Tali’s hab-level. Jena set her face in a confident smile and let her breasts lead the way. When the elevator door opened at ground level, Martian men and women stared. Tali’s smile beamed and Jena was secretly of her comfort. A path cleared for them as they made for the appropriate conduit. Viking Carnival was held underground. The façade was made up to look like the front of a warrior’s helmet. Each side of the helmet crest was detailed with a human face, one side male, the other female. The mouths were the eyeholes were the entrances. Tali led Jena up to the side that was female and fed her ticket into a designated reader. Loud, heavy music pounded out as the door slid open. In the lighting sequence Jena could see forms writhing inside. At the center of the floor a relic presided, still dusty from the century it sat in place before recovery. Jena adjusted her tushy-floss and set her smile. Ok, lead with the tits. Smile set to kill, she thought and fed her ticket in. Tali smiled over her shoulder as they faced what lay inside. “We’re a long way from home, Jena.” Jena’s eyes went wide in surprise as Tali’s hands found her breasts and gave her nipples a tweak. She laid the smile set to kill on Tali. “You’re so gay!” Tali shrieked and ran into the mouth laughing. Welcome to the Pleasuredome. On our way home. Going home where lovers roam. The music was courtesy of archives dating from the period Viking was launched. A long dead singer crooned through unseen speakers arranged throughout the wide room. The walls were red and craggy in places images were from a holoform projector creating a show from old, 2-D video archives of the band. Larger-than-life figures carrying instruments played on a small platform set up at one end. From head on, the holographic effect provided depth and looked the most realistic. Attendees looking on from the sides saw only giant shadows dancing. Jena and Tali stalked the floor of Viking Carnival through a crowd they judged to Martian CIV, GOV, and MIL with assorted planetary celebrities working the mix. Looks received from male and female guests ranged from bonhomme to predatory. Tali took her hand and let her toward the dispenser area as she let her eyes drift over the crowd, reading intentions. Attendees were mostly naked and many were in exhibition; a collage of faces, breasts, and erect cocks frozen in flashing strobe-light. Viking 1 Lander was encircled by a wall of plexi-glass cut lower on one side allowing attendees access to the faded white relic. The finish on one corner had been rubbed down to gleaming metal. First Tali, then Jena, lowered a hand to the spot. Jena felt a shock rush through her as her fingers touched. “Pardon, sheba.” There was a naked man standing behind her. “My name is Michil, yes?” He said and put his hands to his hips. “I guess you are from off-world. On Mars we pride our hospitality. I would enjoy welcoming you.” Jena felt her mouth flap open and shut as her eyes flicked downward. The Martian had been blessed with girth. A fleshy pillar drooped between his legs. A proper response to his question fled from her mind. Michil raised a confused eyebrow and looked down. Suddenly understanding, he laughed and said, “It is a friendly weapon, yes? Don’t let it frighten you.” “Jena, come on,” Tali said and pulled on Jena’s arm, leading her toward the lines formed around the dispensary. “We not ready for this yet. We need to get smlecked, first, very smlecked.” Jena let herself be pulled away but fixed her eyes on Michil’s before the crowd consumed them. To navigate the Carnival was a gentle course around bodies writhing, intertwined on the exhibition floor or the crowds standing around pleasure machines. Supplicants cries were drowned out by music. “Tali, what did you get me into?” “More importantly,” Tali said and slowed to a stop at the end of the nearest line. “What’s getting into you? Or should I say who?” She cackled at her zinger. “What did you expect? A tea party?” “I didn’t know,” Jena said. “But knowing you, I think part of me expected this.” “A large part of you, I’d say,” Tali jested. “Every time I’ve seen you, you’ve been getting wrapped up tighter and tighter. That’s what working on the upper staff is doing to you. You need this. I need this. I need you to have the best time of your life. Whatever you can think of. Don’t worry, nothing leaves here, we’re just two more faces.” *** When Jena’s turn at the dispensary came she was confronted by a perplexing dilemna. The dispensary had four sides, each imprinted with identical series of colored buttons and a hopper in the bottom she’d watched other attendees remove their selections from. “Jena, since this is your first event, you probably should start easy,” Tali said and took a deep quaff from her oddly flourescent drink. The sequence she’d entered into the dispensary panel was blue-yellow-green. She squinted at the panel. “Try a red-yellow-orange. You’ll have a great time without too many surprises.” “What am I trying?” Jena said and touched the buttons matching Tali’s suggestion. Once she’d pushed three in, they flashed and a plastic cup dropped into the hopper and began filling. “Just something to put you in more of a party mood,” Tali said as Jena removed the cup and looked inside it, appraising the liquid shimmering inside it. “They buttons put additives into your drink. Red-yellow-orange will keep you awake and stimulated. Try it. If it doesn’t do what you want, try something else.” Jena lifted the cup to her lips. “This is approved, right?” “Earth rules don’t apply here,” Tali retorted as Jena tried a sip. Her drink was an indeterminate fruit flavor and spicy. “Things are more legal here, but don’t worry about your next substance test, they’re not scheduled until well after all this is out of our systems.” “You’re right,” Jena said and took a larger gulp, nearly a quarter of the cup at once. Seconds after she swallowed, she felt a heat in her stomach that spread upward toward her neck and downward toward her panty-thong. Jena squeezed her legs together as a familiar tang reached her nose. “Smleck. I just got wet.” “That’s the yellow kicking in,” Tali confirmed and led her away from the dispensary. “This place is ours tonight, Jena. Where do you want to start first?” “Christ and Allah, I don’t even know.” “Neither did I my first time,” Tali said and sipped on her blue-yellow-green. She stood on tippy-toes to take in the action and smiled when she saw some across the room. “It’s a little early for the group floor. Have you ever gotten off from a machine?” “Just the human kind,” Jena said and concentrated on threading through the crowd without slopping her drink. Tali angled for a man-shaped contraption set up against the wall with a crowd around it. “I don’t know if I want to try anything without a soul. It sounds so unnatural to me.” “Tweaking isn’t unnatural. Sometimes at home I use a machine to get off,” Tali said. “Using it on my girlfriend isn’t unnatural. I think you should try it before you knock it.” Jena giggled, her response to the mirage of Tali and Gabrielle that appeared in her mind, only it wasn’t Gabrielle. She took a sip of her red-yellow-orange and mentally cursed. Unable to deny it any longer, she admitted to herself that she was into girls as well as guys, perhaps for just one night. “Think about it, Jena, are you to live or do you just exist? Don’t be afraid. Just wait until your red-orange kicks in. You’ll be all good, not a care in the world. I’ll keep you out of serious trouble, don’t worry. By the end of the carnival you’ll never remember coming so hard in your life,” Tali stepped into a ring of people surrounding a device that resembled an upright racing cycle. We got twelve hours of paradise.” A man with a MIL haircut and an “Iron Fist” gauntlet tattooed on his shoulder was bent over in the machine harness, facing them, with a wireless kill-switch tensed in one hand. The racing cycle vibrated as a piston mechanism worked a large prosthetic in and out of the man’s anus. Semen spilled from his erect penis into a latex skin as he released the kill switch and collapsed onto his stomach. The piston arm retracted until it was all the way back, then turned the rotor head at the tip and plugged it into the tube of a sonic sterilizer built into the carnival ride. When he picked himself up, his last obligation was to wipe the machine clean for the next in line. Tali grinned and stepped forward, preempting a similar move by another woman waiting her turn, who shouted something offensive sounding in Mars-Russian but stopped short as Tali climbed onto the machine. She leaned forward against the “fuel-tank” form and put her hands onto upright handles that kept her center of gravity forward. A small vid-screen mounted between the handles came to life and she could see her pussy. A small “+” marked the location the prosthesis was aiming for. One handle controlled “right-left,” the other adjusted “up-down.” When she pushed the handles forward the piston started moving in toward her. She let go of one and pulled her panty-thong to one side. Jena watched, awestruck, as Tali flushed and closed her eyes. Her friend bleated out longing as the rotator head made contact. Jena crossed her arms over her breasts as minutes passed, fighting impulses demanding similar attention. Emotions flooded her as she noticed the onset of Tali’s first orgasm. Arms crossed, she rolled a nipped between her thumb and forefinger, a momentary thrill that made the heat filling her more intense, the opposite effect she’d wanted. Jena wanted to come so bad it gave her the shakes. She turned when she felt a soft touch on her elbow. Gabrielle met her with the same smile that Jena had come to envy. Tali’s lover wore nothing but body-paint and patterns of stick-on glow-beads. It was her that Jena had seen that first day. “So sorry for my late-come-late, yes?” She said and brushed past Jena into the circle. “Look at my little Earth-girl. Such a show-off.” Tali gave out a passionate yowl and released the kill-switch. She dismounted the ride and wiped it down, then wobbled over to them on weak legs. Her lover’s arms were immediately around her shoulders, drawing her into an embrace. Tali lowered her head to Gabrielle’s breasts. “Wow, the greens hit me like a tidal wave. That was A-MA-ZING!” Gabrielle played with Tali’s ear and said, “Earth girls are so easy to please.” She looked at Jena who felt envy again. “If only all Earth girls were. Come on, there is so much carnival to do.” ** * When Jena described her feelings, she was informed by Gabrielle and Tali that it was the Orange kicking in. Jena felt lusty. She wanted to be wanted. She wanted sex. The trio found an open spot on the exhibition floor behind the Viking 1 and made it their own. Tali kept Jena calm while Gabrielle visited the dispensary. “Promise me that this won’t create weirdness,” Tali said as she faced Jena, sitting inside the cradle of Jena’s legs, her own legs riding over Jena’s hips. “I have a confession to make. I’ve wanted this to happen for so long,” Jena smiled as Tali kissed her. Their lipsticks formed a bond and slowly pulled apart. Tali ran her fingers through Jena’s sweat soaked hair. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” “No.” Jena said and gasped as a new sensation raced through her. When she described her symptoms, Tali replied that the red was kicking in. Her skin was on fire, every nerve tingling, the only relief she could imagine was a thorough tongue-bath. “It gets better,” Tali said and eased Jena onto her back. “Your legs. Give them to me.” Jena lifted her ankles until she felt Tali’s hands on them, guiding them apart, the insides of her legs were tickled by the tips of Tali’s hair as she let her head drop. Jena felt hot breath on her skin and then something electric flitting against her clit, seeking out ticklish places. She bit a knuckle as a small wail escaped her lips. “Give me your love.” “Take it.” Jena moaned. Tali was experienced. She alternated periods of oral service with stimulation by one finger, then others that massaged her internally. Other times she might’ve rejected her friend’s attention but at that moment, surrounded by a faceless crowd and thundering music. Jena slowly became aware of a bemused face smiling down at them. Gabrielle had returned from the dispensary with a drink in each hand. “My little Earth girls are enjoying the carnival, yes? How nice!” Gabrielle said and place the multicolored beverages on the floor and dropped down next to them. “It is so good to see you happy, Jena.” Viking Carnival Jena smiled drunkenly and said, “This is amazing.” “It gets better,” Gabrielle cooed and stroked Jena’s hair. “The Ragnarok is about to start. My favorite part.” Tali lowered Jena’s legs from their position over her shoulders and took one of the glasses that Gabrielle delivered. “I was trying to get her ready.” Jena looked up, startled, as there was a commotion. “I choose you!” An intoxicated, heavyset Martian ambled out of the crowd and thrust a large finger at her. “Don’t fear, Jena, the carnival has rules,” Gabrielle said in her ear. “Someone has to make a first offering.” Another man, handsome, and military by his build and haircut, aggressively thrust his chest into the others. “She will be mine!” The Martian roared and threw a fist into the challenger’s face. His punch landed solidly and the soldier collapsed, briefly, but issued a loud war-cry and scrambled to his feet. Both went down in a flurry of punches. The soldier got up and wiped at the blood trickling from his nose. He locked eyes with Jena and said, “I choose you.” “She will be mine!” A man stood up beside him and they bumped chests. The soldier, now the challenged, had the right of first strike. He drove an uppercut into the challenger’s torso that crumpled the man immediately. “She will be mine!” Another taker initiated the ritual. This one, Jena could see, was stocky and bulged with inflated muscle. Jena felt Gabrielle next to her ear. “How does it feel, Jena? How does it feel to have men bleed for you?” Jena shook her head. “I don’t understand why they do it for me. When does this end? Or how?” Both fighters were circling each other warily. “It ends when you choose.” The soldier threw the first strike but it was only a glancing blow. A punch to the short-ribs sent him staggering back, clutching his midsection. The challenger rushed forward to deliver the coup-de-grace but was stopped short by a hasty jab that found only air. “And after that?” Jena said and turned to get the response from Gabrielle’s eyes. The Martian girl shrugged. “You are his until he releases you or the Carnival ends.” Said she. “What does that mean?” Gabrielle smirked and pulled herself away. “You will know when the time comes, yes? Come find us when you are done.” That time came only minutes later. Her trooper absorbed a punch to the mouth but recovered enough to land a jab followed by an elbow to the head that left his opponent stunned. The match was finished with an uppercut to the chin that sent the other man reeling in the crowd around them. Her trooper faced her. His hand shook as he used it to point to her. “I choose you.” “She will be mine.” Another challenger stood. When the two bumped chests, her soldier nearly lost his balance. He had the right of first strike but was tired. There would be no strength behind his fist. “Stop!” Jena called as her soldier balled his fist and stepped forward. “Enough. I choose you.” She watched his shoulders slump with relief as he lowered his arms. “Thank you,” He said and collapsed onto the floor beside her. “I was beginning to think you might make me fight the whole Carnival for you.” “I was thinking of that, but you were so determined,” Jena said and lifted a hand to touch the soldier’s split lip. “The outcome was inevitable.” “You are kind,” The soldier said and guided her hand away from his face. He ran his own hands up her arms, then over her breasts and down her body. “What is your name?” “Jena.” “I am Cassius,” He said and laid back on the floor. He pulled her down on top of him. “You have a very pretty name, Jena. I’m sorry I won’t remember it.” At least he’s honest. Jena thought. Cassius growled as she delivered a bite to his shoulder that drew blood. He tangled his fingers in her hair as she worked her way down his body. Every bruise she found was treated with a kiss. *** Where am I? Jena thought as she opened her eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. She was in a small hab. The rising sun sent shafts of light through the heavy storm shutters over the only hab window. Tali, sleeping, spooned into her front. Jena noticed a strange arm draped over her hips from behind: Gabrielle, who roused when she felt Jena moving. “My little Earth girls were so busy last night,” Gabrielle lilted into her ear. “Too tired now even for tia’freya.” “I can’t remember what happened. What did I do?” Jena whispered, her heart suddenly racing. All she could recall was removing her drink cup from the dispensary. Then came the disturbing emotional sensation that the block of memories in storage from the event were as inaccessible as if they had never happened. “We learned the secret of life, yes?” Gabrielle said. “Everyone did. That is why we were made to forget.” “I don’t understand.” Jena said. “Such secrets are not easily revealed,” Gabrielle said and rolled onto her back. “To find them we must step outside ourselves, yes? We must do things it may not be us to do. It is better that we not know what they were. This is why everyone has forgotten.” “There were hundreds of people there,” Jena said. “Do you mean that none of them have any memory of the Carnival?” “You would prefer it if they did?” Jena considered the question in silence. What would Kinkaid think of whatever hidden behaviors she’d unburied? “Some of us are trying to sleep.” Tali complained and jammed a foam pillow over her head. “How do you feel?” Gabrielle offered and slid out from beneath the ornate, native Martian blanket thrown over the bed-slab. She had a beautiful body and Jena caught herself appraising the native girl with strange, new eyes. “Come on. I need food. My little Earth girl is cross in the mornings, yes?” “Yes.” Jena said and took the hand Gabrielle offered. Tali snored deliberately as they dressed. The nearest public dome was a ten minute walk through light pedestrian streams. The Goddard colony was in recovery from the excesses of the Founder’s Day holiday. Chronos Cyclonos had faded and light from Sol lit the rust-colored crags around them. The timing of Viking Carnival became clear. Residents of Goddard had much to celebrate when the winter dust storms finally cleared. Lines for the food-bar dispensers were short. Gabrielle slotted her ID card into the dispensary card reader and a food bar out of the hopper near the bottom. When Jena’s turn came, the screen cleared and a pop-up message appeared, directing her in official language to the Ruby’s Red Harvest House. A server, a man, was waiting at the entrance when she arrived with Gabrielle in tow. The man bowed and said, “We welcome you, aide to Admiral Kinkaid. I assure you that our fare is far worthier than any dispensary bar. We have a table waiting. Please accept our hospitality.” “Of course we will,” Jena said and the server led on. Their table sat in an alcove concealed by a Martian blanket drawn over the entrance. When the blanket was pulled back they could see their table laden with enough food for eight people. “May we just keep the fruit and the water, please?” “Yes ma’am, nothing will go to waste.” The server replied and signaled for help. A female server joined him and together they cleared the table of all but the requested items. Jena and Gabrielle took opposite sides in the ½ moon shaped booth and the blanket closed. Jena took a small plate provided and forked a slice of Martian blood-orange. Gabrielle poured two glasses of water and then copied her. “You never asked about Tali and me.” She said and slid several orange slices onto her plate. “What’s there to ask? It wasn’t that much of a secret,” Jena said and drank from the glass Gabrielle slid across to her. “I guess I was wondering what your plans were. You two seem pretty close and eventually be assigned to a ship going out on deployment. She’s my friend. It’s not like she can just resign her commission.” “There are many things that people do not understand, yes?” Gabrielle said. “One of them is us. People think that women find women because of something genetic, or because we hate men, but they overlook one very important thing.” “Tell me.” Jena said and bit into a blood-orange slice. She smiled as its sweet-tang saturated her tongue. “Amazing tia’freya!” Gabrielle said and erupted into laughter as Jena did. The servant attending them would remember what he’d heard.